Introduction

The following classification is the result of a process that lasted three and a half years. It began with the representatives from youth circus training courses meeting to find ways of exchanging practices and increasing the opportunities for cooperation in Europe.

As the work progressed, it was discovered that the basis of cooperative work lies in the deeper understanding of each others’ conceptions. A working group was assigned to lead a comparison between the existing training courses and their underlying job descriptions. The result of this work is that six job levels in the field of youth circus sector have been identified.

Under the heading ‘Responsibility' can be found the task that lies at the core of the respective job level, followed by a precised description of the tasks, skills and competences in the pedagogical, the artistic education and the security (health and safety) areas.

We consider these job levels as a ‘continuum’ which implies that a higher level builds up on the underlying levels and includes their tasks, skills and competences.

• The job levels competencies matrix